


The Gift of Life

by runjinnies



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Dad!Mark, M/M, University, dad!hyuck, not mpreg, the baby just showed up, wholesome content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-03-17 23:33:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18974614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runjinnies/pseuds/runjinnies
Summary: “Mark, why the fuck are you holding a baby?”“...She was left on my doorstep.”In which Mark Lee wakes up one morning to discover a baby left at his doorstep, with a note telling him that he’s been trusted to keep her in his care. The chaos of unexpectedly becoming a father makes things a little bit more difficult in his life, but when his long time friend and long time crush Donghyuck offers to help him out, things start to get better, bit by bit.





	1. Meeting The Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey welcome to my first ever Ao3 fic! I've somehow come around to writing a fic in which Mark ends up with a baby, perhaps just because that's the exact type of wholesome content I need to keep me going. I hope you enjoy my writing, and support this work with kudos and comments! I've worked hard on it, and I sincerely hope you have a good time reading it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark meets his new kid, in the least expected way he would have ever imagined.

It was certainly too early in the morning to be dealing with this. No, way too early in his life to be dealing with this.

As soon as Mark Lee had woken up in the morning, he heard a faint sound coming from just outside his apartment door. He had originally made the decision to ignore it, figuring that it was probably his neighbor making the trek back to her apartment after a night of partying.

He had started to make his morning coffee, the thought of the sound already leaving his head, until he heard a cry. Not just any cry, the cry of an infant. He had never heard that around here before. None of his neighbors had kids, let alone a _baby_.

Immediately, Mark went into panic mode. He ran towards his front door, twisting the lock, and pulling the door open towards him. He didn’t see anything upon his first look, but when he heard a small sound coming from the floor, and his eyes locked onto a baby, in a basket, on the floor, Mark just about collapsed. However, his instincts kicked in before he could do so, and he immediately picked up the child, bringing them inside.

Mark looked around, not fully sure where to put down the infant child that had appeared on his doorstep. He quickly swept some blankets and pillows off his sofa, opting to set the basket down there. It was when he did this, that he noticed a note sticking out beneath the blanket the baby had been set on. Immediately, he yanked it out, seeing what appeared to be, thank God, an explanation as to why and how the hell this baby got here.

_'Hello, to whoever receives this letter._

_If you are reading this right now, it means that you have found a baby on your doorstep._

_I’d like to sincerely apologize for that, but I really didn’t know what to do anymore._

_I’m not going to formally introduce myself, out of fear that you’d just give her right back,_

_but I do owe you an explanation about how you ended up with her in the first place. First, let me explain who she is._

_Her name is Lee Jiyun, and she was left in my care after her parents both suffered fatal injuries in a car accident,_

_and she was discovered still in the apartment where her parents had left her. I do not have any relation to her, nor_

_does seemingly anyone else. The parents are somewhat of an enigma, because they don’t have very many living relatives,_

_and those who the police have managed to locate seem to want nothing to do with either of them. So, long story short,_

_dead parents + uncooperative relatives + very small infant = giving the baby to whoever can take care of her. Originally,_

_the police officers that found her considered me a good candidate, for what reasons I’m not entirely sure, but she was left_

_under my care. I tried my best for the two months I had her, but it was just too much. The police refused to let me give her_

_in to an adoption center, again, for seemingly no reason, so you, stranger, are my last hope. I don’t remember your name_

_(and i’m sorry for that much, i probably should have memorized it before i decided to leave you with a baby) but i had heard_

_from some of your university classmates that you’re incredibly dependable, work hard, and are never one to give up in the face_

_of difficulty. So I’ve made the decision to leave Jiyun with you. I know, you do not know who I am, and since I have forgotten your_

_name, I only know you as the dependable boy in apartment 6c, but I sincerely hope and believe that you will be able to take good care of her.'_

Mark was left with his mouth agape as he finally finished off reading the letter. He stole a glance over at the baby again, who seemed preoccupied with her thumb stuck in her drool covered mouth. Mark felt a sudden and very strong weight fall onto his heart, the reality of the situation hitting him like a boulder.

“Oh God.” He muttered, his voice prompting the little girl- Jiyun- to look at him, her dark brown eyes wide. He looked back at her, approaching the basket she was left in, and crouching down so he was at eye-level with her.

Honestly, he found her really cute. That much is obvious. She’s a tiny baby, Mark can’t think of a reason to think of her as anything other than adorable. Especially when she’s staring right back at him.

Cautiously, Mark stuck a hand towards her, perhaps as a peace offering, or perhaps to check that she is, in fact, real, and that this isn’t all a bad dream he’ll wake up from in a few minutes.

Mark’s hand stopped just in front of her face, not sure if he should reach for her or not, when Jiyun went ahead and made the decision for him.

With her small, soft, and squishy hands, she reached out to grasp mark’s own, successfully managing to get two of his fingers in her hold. Mark looked at them, reveling in how tiny they were, and he smiled. So did Jiyun, her eyes squishing up as her mouth opened in a gleeful beam. 

That moment is what sealed the deal for Mark.

7:30 AM, Wednesday morning, a baby on his sofa with her hands around his fingers. 

Mark wasn't sure how he would do it, but he knew he wanted to do it.

To Mark, he's got a kid now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short introduction chapter! Welcome to the new chaos that is entering Marks' life.


	2. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark quickly realizes that he needs a lot of stuff in order to care for a baby.

Mark immediately went into what can only be described as Efficient Parent Mode. He took Jiyun out of her basket and held her in his arms for a minute, before transferring her to one arm so that he could look through some of the things she'd been left with. 

Underneath her blanket, there was a stuffed toy, presumably Jiyun's favorite, judging by her reaction. Along with that was a few diapers, a baby bottle, and a container of baby formula. Mark figured that this was just the 'starter pack' , so to speak, and he knew that in order to really care for Jiyun, he'd need a lot more. 

So, he made a checklist. 

There were the necessities, like more food, diapers, a crib, blankets, a stroller, a carseat, and clothing. Then there were extra things Mark decided he might as well get if he was already going shopping for baby stuff. This included mostly just toys, though he pondered what other things he might need. He knew instantly that his wallet would be crying in pain after he bought all of these things, but he also knew that he had a fucking baby to take care of, and he figured that he ought to get everything he needs to do that properly. 

Fortunately for Mark, he was unoccupied with anything else for the day. So, he took Jiyun up in his arms, grabbed his wallet, phone, keys, and wagon, and started walking to his nearest big box store. 

Along the way, Mark saw many people stop and coo at Jiyun, but also many people giving him questioning looks. He supposed it must be an interesting sight, seeing as he's only college-aged and is holding a baby, but he couldn't bring himself to care all that much when he became acutely aware of the fact that Jiyun was dozing off in his arms.

She was tucking herself into his chest, her tiny fist grabbing at Mark's cotton shirt. Mark smiled as he looked down at her, saying, "Do you wanna sleep?" In the softest tone he could muster. The baby obviously didn't respond verbally, but she did snuggle herself even further into Mark, and let her eyelids fall shut. Mark's heart felt like it bloomed at the sight. 

Within 15 minutes, Mark finally walked up to the store, Jiyun still fast asleep in his arms. He walked inside, reading the signs over the aisles for anything related to babies, and started walking around so he could get what he needed. 

It took a long time to find everything, mostly because Mark was constantly distracted by just how many *things* there were. Jiyun also woke up at one point and began crying, and Mark had to rock her until she fell back asleep again. Still, despite the distractions, mark managed to get everything on his checklist, including extra toys, and a few kiddie books. 

Checking out with these items was somewhat of a journey, though. As minutes went buy and more and more things were going through the scanner, Mark watched as the cashier became increasingly confused. Eventually, the guy looked over to Mark and Jiyun, saying, "She your kid? You look awfully young."

Mark was caught off guard by the question, not used to cashiers ever talking to him aside from saying their usual thank yous. 

"Uh, yeah," he said, after a bit of a pause, "she's mine." 

The cashier looked a bit shocked at Mark's words, but opted to not respond in favor of ringing up the rest of Mark's stuff. Then Mark's total came on the screen- expectedly tremendous- and Mark paid with his credit card, thanking the cashier before he began to wheel off all of his purchases out the door and back to his apartment building. 

Mark huffed when he finally got back, setting Jiyun down so he could use both his hands to get things set up. He turned on a kid's channel on his TV, hoping that'd keep her mostly entertained, and he immediately got to work. 

He built her crib first, and was very pleased when he was done. It was a soft blue color and had little animals painted on the inside head and footboards. Once he popped in the mattress and sheet, he positioned the crib so that it would sit next to his bedside table. 

Everything else he prepared went by in a breeze. The baby chair for his kitchen table was built in 10 minutes, he opened the stroller and set it near the front door, he scattered some toys around, (making sure to give one to Jiyun while she watched TV, which, judging by her glowing eyes and big smile, she greatly appreciated.) and put her new books right next to his on his shelf. 

The day after that went smoothly enough, though Mark did need to watch a few tutorials on how to properly change a diaper, and also had to look up how much formula he should be giving Jiyun. The results from this were a little concerning, as all of them said it depends on age, and Mark didn't really know how old Jiyun was. 

He dug through her basket again, hoping to see any indicator of her age. Once he reached the bottom of it, he noticed a large manila folder, and once he flipped it open, he saw Jiyun's birth certificate. 

"Wow..." Mark mumbled, looking down at it. 

"Lee Jiyun... April 5th, 2019." 

He smiled to himself as he read it, taking out his phone and adding it to his calendar. Then he safely put the file away, going back over to Jiyun, who he'd left in her high chair at the kitchen table. When he walked in, she was still sitting patiently, grasping a small toy lioness that Mark had bought for her. 

"Alright," Mark said, "you ready for lunch?"


	3. Run Ins and Daycare

Mark had been lucky enough that Jiyun had arrived on a day void of classes, void of clubs, void of any other responsibilities that could have made things a little bit more difficult than they needed to be. However, the following day would be nothing of the sort, and that realization dawned on him as he ate his dinner next to Jiyun. The baby was preoccupied in her high chair, busying herself with the binkie in her mouth and the lioness plushie she'd been grabbing at lunch, but Mark's mind was racing as he thought about what he could do with Jiyun while he was away in classes and at club meetings. 

He started googling different daycares in his area, looking for one that he deemed suitable to take care of her while he was gone. The task was difficult, because he was scared and picky. After all, he'd been thrusted into fatherhood under 24 hours ago, and he didn't want to fuck it up. Jiyun's life had taken enough negative twists and turns already, and she was hardly even 5 months old. Mark didn't want to add any more difficulty into her life. 

Eventually though, after half an hour of searching through Google results and Yelp reviews, Mark found a place he thought would be absolutely perfect. It was a 15 minute walk from his place, and they were open as early as 8 AM, so Mark wouldn't have to worry about being late to any classes because he had to drop Jiyun off. As for the place itself, it looked small, but not cramped. The website said that usually there were about 10 kids there every morning, all ranging in age from 3 months to 4 years. It was managed by two women, Irene and Seulgi, who each had short bios written on the website, and Mark couldn't help but to smile as he read through them. 

He stopped to look at Jiyun for a moment, before holding his phone to her face to show her the site. 

"What do you think? Is it good for you?" He asked, a playful tone in his voice. Jiyun giggled in response, a smile stretching across her face, visible behind her binkie. Mark couldn't help but to coo at the sight, putting his phone down so he could gently squeeze Jiyun's cheek. She squeaked as he did, but the smile never left her face. 

So, Mark was decided. Jiyun would go to daycare tomorrow while he was in class. However, that was still hours away. For that moment, Mark had to focus on getting to bed. 

He gently scooped Jiyun out of her chair, holding her so her head could rest on one of his shoulders as he carried her to her crib. By the time he put her down inside, she looked like she was already ready to doze off, and so Mark smiled down at her, whispering a soft "goodnight" before he went to go shower and get ready for bed. 

 

 

The next morning was hectic. Mark woke up at 5:30 in the morning because Jiyun was crying, and immediately had to go through all of the motions of checking on her. He dealt with cleaning her, feeding her, and rocking her, and even then her crying didn't stop for about half an hour. Once her screaming finally did cease, Mark figured he'd ought to just stay awake. He wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after an already eventful morning. 

He got ready quickly, making himself breakfast while Jiyun was sitting in the high chair so he could keep an eye on her. The fire alarm went off while he was making himself scrambled eggs, which did startle Jiyun enough to make her start crying, but aside from that, Mark would say breakfast went swimmingly. 

Once the chaos had died down, Mark checked the time, and realized that he had to get Jiyun to daycare if he wanted to be in class ontime. He packed up his bookbag, put Jiyun in her stroller, triple checked that she was secure, and then headed out.

Now, Mark was anticipating the walk to daycare to be easy. The weather was nice, the roads were quiet, and the place was close. What could go wrong?

Well, Mark had (stupidly) expected far too little from his walk to daycare. At the very least, he hadn't expected to run into his best friend's older brother when he turned the corner off of his block. Mark clearly hadn't learned much from the phrase "expect the unexpected." 

To Mark, it happened in slow motion. One second, he was looking at his surroundings, checking on Jiyun to make sure she was still secured and comfortable in her stroller. The next, he was turning, and he made dead eye contact with Lee Taeyong, whose eyes flickered from Mark, to Jiyun, back to Mark. It settled quickly in Mark's mind that it was too late to turn around and hide. He had to just put on a smile, say hello to Taeyong, and hope that the older male wouldn't have too many questions. 

But, that would be too much to hope for, wouldn't it? 

"Hey Mark," came Taeyong's voice, walking up to the younger. His eyes flicked down to Jiyun again, before landing back on Mark, who had started to nervously tap his fingers along the stroller handle. 

"Hey, Taeyong. How's it going?" Mark said, trying to sound casual. If his voice broke a bit as he spoke, Taeyong pretended not to notice. 

"I'm fine, was just headed to the store to get some stuff for breakfast. Who's this little one?" 

Taeyong's attention was now directed towards Jiyun, the baby too distracted by her toy to even bother looking up at him. Mark sighed internally. 

"Her name is Jiyun." 

Taeyong quirked an eyebrow. 

"You got a babysitting gig or something? Awfully early for something like that." 

Mark felt like he was about to break into a sweat if Taeyong didn't stop asking him so many questions. He looked down to his watch to check the time, and realized that he'd have to speed out of this conversation if he didn't want his day's structure to fall apart. 

"Something like that, yeah. I was just about to drop her off at daycare before I headed to class." 

Taeyong glanced down at the baby again, then back up at Mark. He looked like he had more he wanted to say, more he wanted to ask, but after hearing Mark's words, he probably didn't want to make him late to class. 

"Well, good luck with that, then. I've got to get going now. See ya, Mark." 

With that, Taeyong left, and Mark let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. Then he checked the time again and, shit. He's really gotta get to daycare. 

 

 

Mark arrived just a few minutes later than he was expecting to, and when he walked in, was greeted by a woman, who he recognized as Seulgi from the website. 

"Hello, are you here to drop off your child?" She asked, sweetly gazing at Jiyun, who- unlike before during the interaction with Taeyong- was looking right back up at her. 

Mark smiled at the sight, and said, "Yeah, I'm thinking I'll just need to keep her here until about 12:30?" 

Seulgi smiled and said that was no problem, before handing Mark some paperwork to fill out. He did so quickly, and Seulgi scanned her eyes over it, to make sure everything was written that was supposed to be. 

"Alright! You're all set. We'll call the number you've written here if we need you and- oh! I almost forgot. She's going to need an emergency contact in case we can't get a hold of you. You'll need to write their information down on the back of the form." 

Mark took the sheet back from Seulgi, then racked his brain for who to put down for an emergency contact. It didn't take long for him to realize that he really doesn't know many people, let alone know anybody's number, address, and email address by heart. 

Except... Donghyuck. 

It made Mark nervous, as he wrote down his best friend's information. He was intending to hold off on telling Hyuck- really to hold off on telling /everyone/ for at least a couple of months while he sorted himself out. He couldn't think of a more inopportune way to find out Mark has a kid than to be called to help assist said kid in an emergency. Still, he wrote down Donghyuck's information, so quickly that he briefly wondered how and when he got all of it memorized. He then handed the sheet back to Seulgi, and leant down to Jiyun so he could say goodbye. 

He gave her a brief kiss on the forehead, then a light squeeze on the cheek, telling her "I'll be back before you know it, okay?" 

Jiyun smiled in response, and unbeknownst to Mark, a still sleeping Donghyuck's phone lit up with a text message from his older brother.


End file.
